My oldest daughter just passed her Hunter’s Ed! I’m looking around at the youth hunts that other states have. I was taking a look at AZ’s hunts. Does anyone know of a good area to take a 12 year old girl on a youth-only hunt? I have never hunted in AZ and I’m just looking for an area with a good chance of seeing a nice buck. Hopefully if I draw my NM tag this year, I can spend a few days checking out some recommended areas.

Thanks –

Don't overlook a DYI father/daughter antelope hunt. NM has some youth tags (I took my niece on one a couple years ago and had fun), and WY has several good areas that shouldn't be too hard to draw a tag in (not youth only, but you can get away from the crowds). Also, consider a hog/exotic hunt either in TX or your own state of CA. My little girl is barely 7, but I'm looking forward to accompanying her on her first hunt. She's been tagging along with me since birth.

ca safari hunter
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Ca safari hunter,

Az is very, very hard to get drawn in lately, at least for any "good" areas. Youth tags are harder to get than bull elk tags. There just aren't enough of them being issued. It's very frustrating when you're trying to keep a young hunter interested in the hunt, and you can't draw tags.

Az has had a "no doe hunt" philosophy for as long as I can remember. Which means we have 15-20 does for every buck you see. This is just my own seat of the pants reckoning from stomping up and down the hills in Az. I wish they would offer more youth hunts here, and make them youth doe tags, give the young hunters more of a chance at getting "hooked" on hunting.

I put my daughter in for every youth hunt I could find in the state last year. The only tag she drew was for a youth javelina hunt.

Good luck. The tips about other states might pan out better for you. Some states have "land owner tags" that would increase your chances of getting her out there. AZ does not have "land owner" tags.

They're even talking seriously about making our archery tags draw only state wide, and not over the counter, as the state has no control over who archery hunts in what areas.

You might check out a youth doe hunt in the kaibab national forest in Arizona. They've been having youth doe hunts for a few years now. There's 200 tags in area 12 (north kaibab in November.
Paul B.